"What?! Is that the AST, Kotori?" Looking at the faint figures appearing on the screen, Itsuka Shido asked nervously.
Itsuka Shido felt very helpless about the AST organization, which specialized in eliminating Spirits, because its top member was his classmate: Tobiichi Origami.
The kind-hearted Itsuka Shido was very displeased with their actions of harming Spirits.
The first time he saw Yatogami Tohka, he noticed the despair in her eyes and wanted to save her.
Moreover, during the time he spent with her, Itsuka Shido also learned that not all Spirits were evil; Yatogami Tohka had never harmed anyone.
And the Spatial Quakes caused by Spirits were not of their own volition but occurred unconsciously.
"Hmm, only those people could find the Spirit's location so quickly." The faint figures on the screen were rapidly zoomed in, revealing several girls wearing Realizer Units.
One of them was indeed Itsuka Shido's classmate: Tobiichi Origami.
"Report, we have reached the destination.
Spirit detected, identity confirmed: Hermit.
Preparing to initiate attack." Kusakabe Ryoko, the combat captain of the AST Tengu Air Base, after arriving at the destination and seeing Yoshino at the center of the Spatial Quake, reported the situation through her headset and then raised her hand to signal her subordinates to prepare their weapons.
"Shiina, how long did it take for the AST to arrive after we descended here?" Yoshino, seeing the AST members flying in the air in their Realizer Units, asked Shiina on her left hand.
"Hmm~ Thirteen minutes and fifty-two seconds.
Wow~ Even an ambulance isn't that fast!
They're so efficient! It takes me about five minutes for preparation work before I can even set off, and now it hasn't even been fifteen minutes.
How proactive are they?!" Shiina's internal clock was as precise as Teacher Komoe's, down to the second.
Yoshino had originally planned to leave after just descending, but Shiina said she wanted to see how long it would take for the AST to arrive.
Unable to refuse it, Yoshino could only stay with it.
"Ah, they seem to have already taken out their weapons, Yoshino." Looking at the AST members drawing weapons from their thighs and aiming at Yoshino, Shiina felt curious.
You know, the girls who become AST members are all beautiful.
But how can your slender bodies withstand the weight of heavy weapons?
"Yes, Shiina.
They're even firing now." Looking at the missiles flying towards her, Yoshino felt no ripples in her heart, and even a hint of disdain.
These modern weapons had no effect on Yoshino whatsoever.
Now, with the powers of various worlds and the knowledge from magic books, Yoshino was no longer a Spirit who only used spiritual power.
The dust from the missile explosion made Yoshino's figure disappear from the AST members' sight, and the members of Ratatoskr watched the image on the screen with tense expressions.
Itsuka Shido, seeing the AST members directly attacking Yoshino without a word, clenched his hands, his fingernails digging deeply into his skin.
"Captain, target hit.
Is the target eliminated?" A team member came to Kusakabe Ryoko's side and asked, "This attack was unusually simple.
It seems this Spirit was just too scared to move."
"...No, it's definitely not that simple. All units! Listen to my command! Don't let your guard down." Kusakabe Ryoko frowned deeply. It was impossible for the Spirit not to react to their attacks. Even if the missiles did hit just now, Kusakabe Ryoko believed there was something wrong with the target.
"Yes!" Just as they were on alert, the sky-high dust disappeared, replaced by a thick ice wall that appeared in front of Yoshino. There were some broken ice shards nearby, which clearly indicated they had fallen from the ice wall.
"As expected, it wasn't that simple. In an instant, Hermit created an ice wall in front of us to block the missile attack, and it was only because the dust from the explosion obscured our vision that we lost sight." It was truly terrifying. Despite her seemingly easy-to-bully appearance, Hermit caused Kusakabe Ryoko's internal pressure to surge. "All units, increase firepower! If the Spirit wants to block our attacks with an ice wall, then we'll use firepower to break through the Spirit's defense!" With that, she raised her weapon and continuously attacked Yoshino.
"Yes!!" All units began frantically firing missiles at Yoshino, while Tobiichi Origami frowned. After being glared at by Kusakabe Ryoko, she had no choice but to continue executing the order.
"They seem to want to suppress us with firepower, Yoshino. In a moment, it'll be like fireworks, and continuous explosions will 'boom!' all around us," Shiina said, exaggeratingly spreading her hands and looking at Yoshino, mimicking a firework explosion.
"If that happens, the land nearby will suffer great damage from the explosions. Yoshino can't let those missiles explode." With blue light appearing in her eyes, Yoshino extended her right hand towards the missiles, using her spiritual power to control the air temperature.
The flying missiles, due to the lowered surrounding air temperature, had their flames extinguished, and ice began to form around their rockets. Finally, the missiles, encased in thick ice, fell to the ground due to their center of gravity, leaving all AST members and everyone at Ratatoskr dumbfounded. It had no effect at all.
"This can't go on." Kusakabe Ryoko gritted her teeth, looking at the members who were gradually losing their fighting spirit, and commanded, "Abandon thermal weapons now! Switch to laser weapons! I don't believe Hermit's ice can freeze lasers too." Kusakabe Ryoko, pulling out her laser gun, refused to believe this. However, the subsequent situation caught her completely off guard.
"Captain! Something's wrong! The flight system of the Realizer is malfunctioning, it's about to fall!" A member shrieked loudly, followed by other members also experiencing flight malfunctions. They were slowly descending now.
"What's going on?" Kusakabe Ryoko's Realizer also began to malfunction. Her eyes widened as she looked at the flying part of her Realizer. "Ice? How can there be ice here? Could it be Hermit!?"
Unbeknownst to them, the Realizers had iced over, preventing them from flying. This was different from the previous data.
"Damn it!? Damn Spirit!?" Tobiichi Origami operated her out-of-control Realizer, looking at Yoshino on the ground. Gritting her teeth, she directly increased her flight power, instantly breaking through the ice blockade, drawing her laser sword, and charging towards Yoshino.
"Origami!? Damn it!" Kusakabe Ryoko watched Tobiichi Origami flying towards Yoshino. After an internal struggle, she couldn't care about anything else. Even if it would damage her Realizer, she followed Origami's example and forcibly broke through the ice.
"As expected, this person's hatred for Spirits is unusually high, Yoshino. Normally, she's a cold beauty who keeps people at a distance, but now her expression has become rich because of the Spirit," Shiina said. Tobiichi Origami's face, contorted with anger, was filled with violence.
"We don't have time to play with them now. The people from Ratatoskr must be monitoring this place, so we need to finish this quickly, Shiina." With ice blades appearing on her shoes, Yoshino easily dodged Tobiichi Origami's attack. Before Origami could react, Yoshino placed her small hand on her, causing her body to quickly freeze.
"What!?" Tobiichi Origami, with only her head unfrozen in an instant, glared at Yoshino. She had completely lost her combat capability now.
"I'm sorry. However, this ice will disappear in ten minutes. But you should take a hot bath quickly, or you'll catch a cold. I'll take my leave now." After bowing to Tobiichi Origami, Yoshino looked at the recovered AST members, raised her right hand, and a blue orb of light appeared in her hand.
"You!?" Without reacting, Yoshino smashed the energy orb in her hand onto the ground. Instantly, a very dense fog appeared all around, allowing visibility of only a few meters. When the dense fog dissipated, Yoshino's figure had completely vanished, and even her spiritual power reaction had disappeared.
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